Tansy's Titan: Cosmos' Gateway Book 3 (12 page)

Tansy looked up at the man caging her under him in confusion and worry. He tugged at a part of her that she thought she had lost a long time ago… her heart. The thought of anything bad happening to him because of her sent such deep waves of pain through her she was surprised she didn’t cry out from the agony. Raising trembling hands to touch his face, she ran her fingers tenderly over the rugged planes trying to memorize them.

Mak buried his face into Tansy’s shoulder where he had bitten her. He gently brushed the tip of his tongue over the mark, smiling when he felt her shiver in response. Now he understood why his brother J’kar was so protective of his mate. He also understood why his mother had the glow about her and his father’s strange, satisfied expression all the time now. If this is what it was like to not only have a bond mate but one that was as passionate as his was, he could see himself walking around with a smile of his own.

“
Ta me ja’te, je talli
. I love you, my heart,” Mak whispered against Tansy’s skin.

I love you, too,
Tansy thought quietly wrapping her arms around his waist and pulling him closer.

Chapter 10

Mak glanced at Tansy. She had been unusually quiet since they had mated the second time in the bathing room. After their first round of loving making, he had picked her up and taken her to the bathing room to clean her. She had nuzzled against him quietly. He thought to just bathe and care for her. He cursed when he saw all the fading bruises on her and a few new ones from him. Determined to care for her properly, he had turned the water to as hot as she could stand and picked up a small cloth and a bar of soap where he proceeded to gently wash every inch of her delicate skin. He paused at the sealant patch. Gently removing it, he chuckled at her exclamation of surprise to see the skin completely healed with only a small pink scar.

“How?” Tansy started to say before just shaking her head. “Thank you.”

“It is my pleasure to care for you,” Mak murmured as he ran the cloth up the inside of her leg.

Tansy’s hands fell to his shoulders and she began kneading them as he continued to clean her. Soon, it was her turn to wash him. When she went to her knees in front of him, he fought to keep his cock from swelling at the erotic sight of her kneeling before him. He forced himself to stare straight ahead so he would not upset her with the fact that he wanted her again.

His breath exploded out of him and he found he had to hang onto the long bar above the shower for support when she suddenly wrapped her lips around his hard length and began sucking on him. His eyes widened in disbelief before almost closing in ecstasy at the vision of her beautiful lips bringing him to untold pleasure. He flushed as he remembered how quickly he had found release again and again.

“What is worrying you?” Mak asked coming up behind her where he rested his hands on her slender hips.

Tansy looked over her shoulder at Mak with a frown before turning back around to focus on the rice she was cooking. They were having a strange breakfast of fish, yellow rice, and steamed vegetables. Since Natasha and Helene did not stay here often and were not planning for their visit the only things available were boxed, canned, or frozen.

“It’s not safe for you to be near me. I’ve been thinking about my assignment. From the very beginning I had a bad feeling about it. The only reason I accepted it was because it was a chance to erase Boris Avilov. But, there was something that just didn’t feel right,” Tansy’s voice faded away as she looked out the window at the Maral deer feeding. There were four of them outside now, a stag and three females.

“Why?” Mak asked moving next to her so he could lean against the counter and see her face as she spoke.

He was discovering she had many secrets that she kept hidden deep inside her. He could see them in her eyes. One of those secrets was how she remained untouched. He knew from the little he had talked with Tink that females from this world were not protected by the men within their family group as the Prime females were. He had even seen the holovid of Tink’s description of what Tansy did to him in the bathing room. He did not think such a thing was possible but he had been very, very wrong. It was not only possible but if he had any say in the matter, it would be repeated many, many times. He wanted her to share her secrets. Perhaps then, the dark shadows in them would fade.

He leaned over and brushed a thick strand of hair back from her face that had come loose from where she had braided it after their bath. “Why do you feel this?” He asked again.

Tansy released her breath and focused back on the rice, stirring it slowly. “I usually work for Ted Rogers. I have since I started in the program. He is my exclusive handler. No one else is supposed to know who I am, where I am at, nothing. I am a ghost in the system. I take my assignments from him and I report what happens to him. I received this assignment from his boss, Craig Knapp. Craig is an arrogant pretty boy. He sits on the committees, he looks good in the press, he talks the talk to the politicians but he doesn’t dirty his hands with those of us known as expendable. He wanted to meet with me to give me the dossier on this assignment but I refused. It is out of protocol and there are some things I won’t do even for Ted. Instead there was a drop. I cased the area thoroughly because I was getting really bad vibes from it,” Tansy said glancing at Mak before reaching around him to get a bowl for the rice.

Mak placed his hand on her arm to stop her. “Why did you not talk to this Ted Rogers about your feelings?”

“I tried but I couldn’t reach him. That was another red flag. I’ve never had a problem reaching Ted if I needed him. It is his job to always be there if I call. I found out right before this assignment went to hell his daughter had been in a car accident,” Tansy said grabbing the bowl. “Only I don’t think it was an accident. I think they wanted Ted out of the way and the only way to do that was to strike at his daughter. She is the only thing in this world that means more to him than his job.”

“Why would this man, this Craig Knapp, what to harm you? Are you not fighting for the same thing?” Mak asked quietly as he pulled the fish out of the oven and set it on the table next to the rice and plates.

“You would think so but I started doing a little digging using some unconventional help,” Tansy said with a small smirk.

“RITA?” Mak asked with a grin.

Tansy nodded. “RITA. I guess you met her, sort of?”

Mak laughed. “Yes. She not only invaded my brother’s warship after your sister Tink found herself aboard it but she has become a fixture at the palace. She likes to get into our computer systems and ‘tweak’ them as she says.”

“Oh God!” Tansy moaned. “Thank goodness you don’t have my mom and dad there. If you did your world would never be the same. I’ve never met two hornier people in my life,” she groaned out with a shake of her head.

“Well…” Mak chuckled as he came up behind her and bent her over the chair so he could rub the front his pants against her. His chuckle turned to a deep throated laugh as he saw her blush at the feel of his cock straining against the front again. “I am not so sure they are the horniest two people on my world anymore. Your mother has been instructing the women of my world on how to not only please their bond mates but what their bond mates can do to please them.”

Tansy turned in Mak’s arms with a horrified gasp. “You have
my
mom… on
your
world?” She squeaked out. “Do you have any idea what she can do? Do you have any idea…”

Mak sealed his mouth over hers in a deep kiss. “Yes, I know. She and your father have already corrupted my father who is the leader of our clans. She is needed. Your sister Tink is breeding something called twins and insisted she needed your mother with her during this time.”

“Twins!” Tansy echoed in shock before smiling brightly up at Mak. “Tink’s having twins?! I’m going to be an aunt!”

Mak’s eyes blazed with desire as Tansy’s face was transformed at the news of her younger sister’s breeding. He wondered if she would be as happy if he were to plant his seed in her womb. The desire to see her swelling with their younglings was almost overwhelming. He wanted to see her rounded and glowing like her sister. He had released the mating chemical into her this morning at least twice, once the first time they mated and again in the bathing room when he took her in the shower. He knew it would normally take several tries before she would become fertile but even Terra was not sure how the mating chemical would work on this species.

Mak cursed as he fought to think rationally. He needed to get her to safety before they even thought of breeding. This was no place for his mate. She was still tired even if she refused to admit it and she definitely needed to be fed regularly. He was not a very good mate at all if he didn’t make sure she was safe, happy, and healthy first.

“Sit, eat and finish telling me what happened,” Mak instructed as he poured them each a glass of water to go with their meal.

“Well, I went to the drop but I didn’t pick it up. I cased the area pretty damn good and almost missed the assassin sent to take me out. He was good,” Tansy said with a small smile. “But I was better.”

Mak laughed at the bloodthirsty gleam in Tansy’s eyes. “You ‘erased’ him?” Mak asked with a chuckle.

Tansy shook her head. “No, I knew the guy. He had been told I was a double agent. Let’s just say we had a heart to heart. It is one thing to erase someone you know is an infection to the world; it is another to erase one of the good guys using a good guy. He simply delivered a message to Knapp. If he fucked with me again, I would erase his ass.”

“What did this Knapp do?” Mak asked darkly thinking if Tansy didn’t kill him than Mak would not have a problem with it.

“He denied it of course. He accused some lesser office junky of wanting to take his place and make him look bad. He is just an asshole to think I would believe that since not even he should have known about me,” Tansy snorted as she took a bite of her fish.

“Damn, but I’m a good cook sometimes,” she moaned as it hit her stomach. “Enough about me, though, I want to hear about you. Tell me about your world.”

Over the next hour, Mak described his home world to Tansy. He talked about his home in the mountains away from the city and the palace. He told her about some of the different worlds he had traveled to and the different species who inhabited those worlds. He explained how some were humanoid like the Prime and those from Earth and how others were not. Throughout the meal they laughed and joked. He liked seeing this side of Tansy. She was relaxed and the dark shadows in her eyes lightened at his tales of his and his brothers’ adventures as they were growing up. He talked about some of the different clans and the problems they had finding females who could be their bond mates. They had just finished cleaning the kitchen when the satellite phone in Mak’s
pocket
vibrated.

“Speak,” Mak said opening the phone.

“You and Tansy need to get out of there immediately,” Helene’s quiet voice came over the phone. “Take the Land Rover through the trail in the woods. It will take you over the mountain. There is a cave hidden in the side of the mountain just to the north of the fork in the road. Leave the Land Rover off to the side of the road and take the vehicle in the cave. Head north toward
Ramenskoe
, it is a little over 50 km from there. Natasha and I will meet you there. There is a small pub called Krylom. I have to go.”

Mak smothered a curse as he glanced at Tansy’s blank face. She was trying to shut him out. He slipped the satellite phone back in his pocket and reached for her hand, frowning at her when she pulled back a step.

“What is it?” She asked tightly.

“Helene says we need to leave immediately,” Mak replied tersely.

Tansy nodded pulling on her jacket over the sweater she was wearing. She pulled the dark cap out of the pocket of the jacket where she had stuck it earlier and quickly pulled her hair up into a bun and covered it. She walked over to the pantry. Pulling the hidden panel open, she grabbed several automatic pistols, an MT116 sniper rifle, and an AEK918G. She took several boxes of ammo as well before closing the panel. She turned just as Mak came back into the room strapping on a cross belt over his chest. He frowned when he saw the stag suddenly lurch into action and take off followed by the females. His mouth tightened.

“Get to the transport. I will follow you shortly,” he snarled in a low dangerous voice.

Tansy’s mouth flattened out. “Don’t get your ass killed. I’ll be really pissed at you if you do,” she said quietly before turning on her heel and moving to the door leading to the basement.

Mak’s smile turned from tender to savage. He would not be the one dying. He moved over to the window and peered out at the dark shapes. He had no problems seeing in the dimmer light of the woods. He moved into the living area and up the stairs. He would
not
wait for them to come to him.

Chapter 11

Tansy fought the urge to turn around and charge out of the house, guns blazing. She would do anything to protect the huge alien male who had captured her heart. She hadn’t admitted to him out loud that she loved his stupid, arrogant, ornery ass but he had heard her thoughts. She froze as she moved through the narrow tunnel lit only by a connected series of rope lighting. Their link…

Shit a gold brick!
Tansy thought as it occurred to her they could use their link to take the sons-of-bitches out.